Festivities occur on March 22 as part of 77th annual Division I Men's Basketball National Championship

March 13, 2014

By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- (Buy tickets) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2014 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball All-Star team, the four contestants in the Slam Dunk Contest and four participants in the 3-Point Contest. The NABC-NAIA Men's Basketball All-Star Game, presented by US Bank, and the NABC-NAIA Men's Basketball 3-Point and Slam Dunk Contests, presented by Rawlings, will occur on March 22, as part of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship in Kansas City, Mo.

The Division I All-Star Team is comprised of three players at this time: Xavier Roberson of Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), Darrie Stephens of Brewton-Parker (Ga.) and Marcel Towns (pictured of Great Falls (Mont.). The rest of the 10-man team will be selected from a pool of 14 finalists, whose teams are participating in the 2014 Division I National Championship. In order for a finalist to be selected to the All-Star Team, his team must lose in the First or Second Round, prior to the All-Star Game on March 22. If there are more eligible finalists than the seven open spots after Second Round games, the NABC-NAIA Men's Basketball All-Star Committee will hold the authority to make the selections. The First and Second Rounds will be played out March 19-21 in Kansas City.

This Division I All-Star Team will compete against a 10-member Division II All-Star Team, which was announced on March 6 (see team below). The game will tip-off at 8 p.m. CDT on March 22 and the format is 2 20-minute halves.

All players with senior eligibility status were in the Division I and Division II All-Star Team selection pool. The teams were selected by the NABC-NAIA Men's Basketball All-Star Committee, which is comprised of head coaches from both the Division I and Division II ranks. Criteria takes into account season statistics, awards and a champions-of-character aspect.

These four players earned a spot on the Dunk Contest: Tyler Inman of Southwestern Christian (Okla.), Jordan Layrock of Lyon (Ark.), Will Nelson of LSU Shreveport (La.) and Mitchell Wiggins Jr. of Southeastern (Fla.). Layrock was the fourth and final dunker voted in by a fan vote on March 10. The order of dunkers will be alphabetical by school name. All four dunkers will be judged on two dunks in the First Round. Each dunker must complete one dunk within a 2:00 span. The two dunkers with the highest composite score advance to the Final Round. The format is the same in the Final Round. The dunker with the highest Final Round score will be the winner. A panel of judges will score the dunks from 6-to-10 points, resulting in a maximum score of 50 and a minimum score of 30 per dunk.

The following players were selected to participate in the 3-Point Contest: Xavier Roberson of Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), Danny Rudeen of Morningside (Iowa), Travis Schuba of Madonna (Mich.) and Talib Uqdah of Arizona Christian. The order of contestants will be alphabetical by school name. All four players will participate in the first round with the goal of attempting as many 3-point shots using five balls from five racks in 60 seconds. The two players with the highest score from the First Round advance to the Final Round. The contestant with the highest Final Round score will be the winner.

Each of the four contestants in the All-Star and Dunk Contests were nominated by Division I and II institutions and are required to be a senior in eligibility status. Both contests will take place at 12:30 p.m. CDT on March 22.

For tickets to all of these activities, go to www.NAIAHoops.com. Tickets can be purchased for as low as $3 per person per game. Paid admission will cover the All-Star Game, 3-Point and Slam Dunk contests and all four Quarterfinal games on March 22.

^ This is a list of finalists whose teams qualified for the Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. These finalists will be selected to the All-Star Team if their team loses prior to the Quarterfinals/All-Star Game on March 22.